Firenze, Brownsberger square off

Paper sponsors 24th Middlesex District Candidates' Night

by David Taber

Neighborhood voters joined campaign volunteers and candidates Sept. 28 for the paper's Candidates' Night for the 24th Middlesex District seat in the state legislature held at the Masonic Hall in Porter Square.

"Both candidates did good preparation and gave good answers. They didn't dodge any questions and there was a good sized crowd," said Baratunde R. Thurston, the political satirist, who moderated the debate between M. Elizabeth Firenza, the Republican, and William N. Brownsberger, the Democrat.

Throughout the evening, Firenze, a former vice president in the information technology department at the State Street Bank, repeatedly said that her experience in the  private sector and her party affiliation would contribute to increased balance on Beacon Hill."More complete and thoughtful decisions can be made when ideas are debated among people with unique and diverse perspectives."

Firenze said 87 percent of the legislature are Democrats, 75 percent are men, and 30 percent are defense attorneys.

Candidates to replace State Rep. Anne Paulsen, D, North Cambridge, M. Elizabeth Firenze, the Republican, and William N. Brownsberger, the Democrat.

Brownsberger, a three-term Belmont Selectman and defense attorney, said that his public service experience and understanding of the issues make him the superior candidate. He has also served as an assistant state attorney general and teaches course on public health law and drug use at Harvard University.

In the hour-long debate, much of the discussion centered on issues important to North Cambridge, including questions to the candidates about their committment to encouraging the state to maintain the public space over which it has stewardship -- including MacCrehan pool, public housing units at Jefferson Park and the pedestrian crossing on Alewife Brook Parkway.

Brownsberger said that the state has allocated $75,000 to improving the crossing of the Alewife Brook Prkway and that he is committed to making sure the money is spent and spent effectively.

He also said he would be a hands-on representative."I will be present on the state's properties in the district on a regular basis looking for issues and seeking out citizens for their feedback."

He said from his walking through Jefferson Park he has learned that rents may be to high for them to have a realistic chance of transitioning out of affordable housing and that in talking to a  resident of Matignon Avenue he learned that the state has been lax about mowing some of its property.

He looks forward to working with numerous state agencies, including the Department of Conservation and Recreation, s Agency, the MBTA, the highway department and the housing agencies and the city to maintain public space and address quality of life issues, he said.

Firenze said that the condition of State maintained properties is disgraceful."The MacCrehan pool is a pool that many working families don't get to fully enjoy because it is not open late enough."

More broadly, she said that her strategy for maintaining state run properties would center around seeking grant money from each of the diverse array of agencies responsible for their upkeep. She would look to the DCR, the Department of Housing and Community Development and the state highway department for grant money, she said.

"I would also work with municipal officials to formulate a long range budget that lines up with the communities needs and does not let these projects get underfunded or fall by the wayside all together," she said.

In response to a question about the complexity of serving the diverse constituency of North Cambridge, in addition to all of Belmont and a portion of Arlington, neither candidate -- both of whom are from Belmont -- shrank from the task. Both said, however, that, especially in light of the fact that the City of Cambridge sued the state over the latest round of redistricting, they would support legislation to create a non partisan committee to redraw the districts.

"Cambridge is a wonderful community and it is unfortunate that it has been carved up like it has, I believe that Cambridge would be better served by fewer legislators, not necessarily because representatives from other towns aren't interested or capable of advocating for minorities, but rather because Cambridge requires a lot of attention," Firenze said.

There are currently six legislators serving Cambridge, Firenze said she thinks there should be no more than three.

"You are a very fine people in this district, I have had a lot of fun meeting you and you deserve a passionate and empathetic representative such as myself," she said.

Brownsberger said that he has paid particular attention to North Cambridge in the course of his campaign. "I have demonstrated my commitment to North Cambridge by walking every block of this district in Cambridge, I have specifically entered every building that I could enter and every housing project in the district and knocked on every door that I could reach at Jefferson Park and Lincoln and Walden Square. I have talked to hundreds and hundreds of voters in Cambridge and I look forward to working with you," he said.

He also said that he had also been endorsed by most members of the city's congressional delegation.

The Democrat made sure to highlight the ideological differences between Firenze when they came up throughout the night. After Firenze fielded a question about abortion rights without specifically endorsing Roe v. Wade, Brownsberger said that was a key difference in their positions.

"I do support Roe v. Wade and I do support the right of safe and legal abortion in the circumstances currently provided by the state of Massachusetts whereas she said she would limit it only to the case of incest and rape," said Brownsberger, who has been endorsed by the National Organization for Women.

Not all of the questions were local. Reponding to a question from Baratunde, Firenze said that she would not support calls for the governor to withhold Massachusetts National Guard troops from Iraq.

"It would be inappropriate for our government to make decisions about our national security. I think these guardsmen would agree we are in this fight as one nation, not as individual states," she said.

"The Constitution clearly states that National Guard troops deployed in the service of this nation are under the sole authority of the office of the President," she said.

In his rejoinder, Brownsberger said that the war in Iraq is emerging as one of the great tragedies in American history.

"People are frustrated by their inability to steer the National Government towards a more rational foreign policy and I think these referenda on this issue are essentially a way to make that statement and I support making that statement," he said.

From a practical stand point, the legacy of hurricane Katrina and the security risks posed by the liquid natural gas tanks in Everett point to a need to maintain a National Guard presence on the home front in the event of an emergency, he said.

He also said that it was not a constitutional mandate, but an act of congress that gave the president authority over the National Guard.

"That decision is reversible," he said.

Differences in the candidates focuses also emerged when they outlined their positions on drug policy. In fielding a question from the audience on the subject, Brownsberger, who formerly worked in the narcotics division of the state attorney general's office and has done academic work on the subject while on faculty at Harvard, said that there are three ways to improve drug policy.

If elected he would focus on implementing sustained drug prevention education throughout middle and secondary school, well funded, effective treatment services, and an effective police presence aimed at curbing the availability of illegal drugs, he said.

Firenze said that she sees job creation as an important key to drug abuse prevention.

"When people have money in their pockets and somewhere to go each day, they are not going to spend time on the street corner and then fall into drugs," she said.

Both candidates worked charming slips of tongue into their spiels during the course of the evening. Firenze's gaffe came when, in her closing statement she attempted to articulate her strategy for functioning as an effective legislator from the minority party.

Firneze said at one point said, "My philosophy has always been that you attract more honey with bees than vinegar."

Brownsberger, in a brief comment regarding the need for better regional public transportation planning to ease traffic congestion, said what might be called unusual candor for a campaigning politician: "I can contribute to that problem."

Firenze said she hopes to discuss the income tax rollback and reforming the state's unemployment insurance policy.

The Alewife Candidates' Night was the first of three debates between Brownsberger and Firenze, the next of which, Sponsored by the League of Women Voters, will be held Oct. 11 at 7:30 at the Chenery Middle School Auditorium on 95 Washington St. in Belmont